NEW YORK, NY – July 26, 2021 – The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund is pleased to announce the list of finalists in the 42nd annual W. Eugene Smith Grant for Humanistic Photography. Finalists have also been named in the Smith Fund’s 4th annual Student category and 25th annual Howard Chapnick Grant, which is awarded to encourage leadership in any field ancillary to photojournalism, such as picture editing, research, education, and management. In lieu of the traditional in-person awards ceremony held in New York City, grant recipients in each category will be officially announced and honored during a live virtual event in October. Details about the virtual ceremony will soon be available at SmithFund.org.

Understanding the continuing struggles and financial need many are still facing, the Fund’s Board of Trustees again voted to place a moratorium on its tradition of presenting a single grant to one photographer and to instead present five recipients each with $10,000 grants. The Fund’s board first made this decision last year during the height of the pandemic and reserved the right to revisit the option for 2021. After careful deliberation, the board voted to extend the moratorium on a single grant recipient for another year.

“The Board of Trustees recognized that many economies and foundations around the world were still feeling the impact of the pandemic and determined that the $40,000 grant and previously awarded $5,000 Fellowships would have a greater impact if used to support five photographers with $10,000 grants,” explained Phil Block, president of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund.